Cliff Ronning plays for charity at the Gianfranco Giammaria Memorial Society Celebrity Hockey Game.
If you’re a cynic, no one would blame you for looking upon professional athletes with scorn, especially with the recent steroid controversy in baseball. While the Alex Rodriguezes of the world are ruining the sanctity of pro sports with lies, cheating, and more lies, people might miss out on some of the good deeds—the fault of the sensationalist media I suppose. While A-Rod was getting ready for spring training in Florida, Cliff Ronning and members of the Canucks alumni team were helping raise money for Sudden Death Arrhythmia Syndrome awareness at the second annual Celebrity Hockey Game. The charity game—named after the late vice principal of St. Helen’s School in Burnaby—took place on February 22 at the PNE Agrodome. “My son goes to [St. Helen’s] and a teacher and vice principal, Gianfranco Giammaria, passed away at the age of 35 at 8 Rinks [due to SADS] and it really hit the school hard,†Ronning explained. The Gianfranco Giammaria Memorial Society was established in 2008 not only to purchase automated external defibrillators for B.C. ice rinks and recreational centres but also to raise SADS awareness with a charity hockey game as its fundraiser.
“I talked to Pat Quinn and other players and they thought it was a great idea, so we went ahead and put on the first game [last year] and raised money for 14 defibrillators in Gianfranco’s memory,†he said.